Bulgaria: Konstantin Kamenarov New Director General of BNT

Konstantin Kamenarov has been selected as the new Director General of BNT, the Bulgarian national broadcaster.

Konstantin Kamenarov has been selected by four votes to one vote, to be the new Director General of the Bulgarian national broadcaster, BNT. Mr Kamenarov has selected from a shortlist of five individuals to be the new Director General of the broadcaster. He has stated that BNT shall continue to focus on “achievable ideas with conservative funding”, with BNT remaining a real alternative to commercial broadcasters.

The new Director General added that he does not view lay offs at the national broadcaster as the answer to its issues. Instead that the broadcaster as a whole should be optimised. Over the past few years BNT has faced a number of financial difficulties, which has seen it innovate and change its approach in EBU organised events such as the Eurovision Song Contest and Junior Eurovision.

Since their return to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016, BNT has opted for internal selections focusing on artists and producers able to partially fund their participation in the contest. This saw Bulgaria qualify for the final in both 2016 and 2017. With Kristian Kostov finishing second this year in Kyiv with the song “Beautiful Mess”. Kristian returned to Bulgaria as a hero and was widely praised for bringing Bulgaria their best result ever.

Mr Kamenarov will now be responsible for deciding whether BNT will continue to participate in the Eurovision and Junior Eurovision Song Contest’s. Earlier this month the confirmed list of countries competing in Junior Eurovision 2017 was confirmed, despite BNT having earlier stating a wish to compete in the contest. It is not known if BNT will be allowed to compete in the contest in Georgia, if approval is received by the Director General, due to the early announcement of this years competing nations.

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At the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, 17-year-old Kristian Kostov finished in second place in the Grand Final, bringing Bulgaria their best ever result. 2017 saw Bulgaria make only their third final in their Eurovision history, the first being in 2007 when Elitsa & Stoyan finished 5th with the song “Water”. Bulgaria debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2005. The country competed annually from 2005 to 2013, before withdrawing for two years due to financial issues.
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Posted by:Anthony Granger

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